I think Snopes has part of a piece about a Nasa worker who took his child to work with him becuase his wife was sick and she wasn’t able to do her normal run to the local daycare.
The father was supposed to drop his son off in daycare, but instead drove to the office, parked in the large lot and went to work.
When he returned, he obviously realized that he was supposed to take his son to daycare…
‘Ben Shelton (9 months old) of Hampton, Virginia, was found dead in his father’s parked car at NASA Langley Research Center on 18 May 1999. The father had forgotten to drop the tot at NASA’s daycare facility.’
What I meant was a sensor in the seat that would activate the alarm when under pressure. Of course it could be coupled to the seat belts so that objects sitting on the seat wouldn’t activate it.
Sorry if my description wasn’t too comprehensible. I’m not very good at technical descriptions.
What I meant was a sensor in the seat that would activate the alarm when under pressure. Of course it could be coupled to the seat belts so that objects sitting on the seat wouldn’t activate it.
Sorry if my description wasn’t too comprehensible. I’m not very good at technical descriptions.
Assuming this alarm isn’t to warn the parent that they’ve left their child behind (where would the adult be 2 minutes after s/he’s turned off the ignition, having left his/her children behind?), but to the general public, if you think this will cause passers-by to flock to the car, you need only look to the universal effectiveness of car alarms. I suspect most would presume it to be yet another car alarm.
Let’s add more discussions - what level of movement would set off the alarm? Too high, and a sleeping child won’t do it. To high and objects passing by outside the car may set the alarm off, leading to the inevitable “phase-out” of yet another noise inflicting itself on urban and suburban life.
You want to couple it to seat-belt latching. I keep the center belt latched to keep it from becoming an annoyance to passengers who otherwise might sit on it, etc. Will that do it?
I’m sorry, but for every safety measure suggested, ingenious dopers have devised ways that it just won’t accomplish the goal of 100% safety, and most of the suggestions are just not realistic, either economically or practically.
Look, there is simply no way to make anything fool-proof and 100% safe. Fools will always find a way to defeat the intricate systems that are thought up to save them and their unfortunate offspring from death, dismemberment, and suffering inflicted by their own (or their parents’) unwitting hands, and the rest of society seems to be cruel if they don’t want to have to take on the economic burdens of this increasingly frantic desire to remove risk from our everyday lives.
I truly regret that these children died, and wish the worst kind of suffering on the woman who caused this, but there must be a balance between safety and responsibility. The law of diminishing returns is quickly closing in on automotive safety, and trying to impose yet another safety device on the 99.99999% of the population that doesn’t need them (but still will have to pay for the incremental cost of these devices) in order to save the lives of the 0.00001% for whom these devices are needed (and of whom a full half will STILL figure a way of killing themselves in some asinine fashion, having managed to defeat our every effort to keep them alive in spite of themselves) is supreme overkill.
Call me hard-hearted, I can take it…I AM a lawyer.
GARR! I’m sorry, let me rephrase that…Too insensitive, and a sleeping child won’t set it off. Too sensitive, and objects passing by outside the car may set the alarm off, etc.
Well… with hindsight I suspect I left myself open to these sort of comments.
In my defence, I’d like to point out that (1) on both occasions, my daughter was never out of sight; (2) I was never more than 6 yards away from the car; (3) the gas station is my local station 200 yards from home. The proprietor is known to me, as I, and my family are known to him. We live in an incredibly sleepy, quiet secluded suburb; (4) The station’s chief mechanic offered on both occasions to keep watch over the car as I went inside. He stayed by the car, and engaged my daughter in waves and smiles. We’ve spoken to each other on a friendly level for 6 years or more now. He’s a father, and he instantly adopted “total protection mode…”
Most importantly, I had the keys. It’s winter down here. The car was very cool and comfortable. The daytime temperature reaches about 72F. We use a very mild air conditioning whilst in traffic because as you know, even in an ambient 72F temperature, a car can get hot. But the parked car was undercover and it was precisely 72F within the vehicle.
On all other occasions in my daughter’s life, she has never once left my side whilst in my care. I would never, ever, consider another course of action otherwise.
I offered the story to illustrate, hopefully, how a normal guy who who has an abundance of love and paternal instinct towards his child should feel, even when separated for a brief 90 second period.
Forgive me if this post comes across as some sort of backpedalling. I understand how easy it is to pass judgement on such issues.
But yes, you’re right… there are some real nutjobs out there. If the chief mechanic had not offered to be my point man, no way I would have left her in the car. Since my daughter’s birth, on the other 10 or so occasions I’ve visited that gas station to either fill up or pick up some milk or bread or something, I’ve brought my little girl in with me and let her engage the staff inside - which I might add everyone (including my daughter) seemed to be happy with. And I’ll do that again in the future too.
